Okay, I'm stepping aside from politics (for once). I want to talk about a young man who was on Oprah Winfrey's show. Ben Underwood was on her show to demonstrate a form of orientation and mobility for blind people known as "echo location."
The problem I have with this form of navigation is that, if used without a white cane, it has a potential to be dangerous. Mr. Underwood expressed a dislike of using a white cane that I cannot fathom.
I realize that, for some people, it's a source of wounded pride to admit to being blind. For most blind people, the white cane is a sort of badge saying "I am a person who happens to be blind." For others, however, such as Mr. Underwood, carrying the cane might as well be a stigma against him...a not-so-scarlet letter, if you will. After all, to a lot of people Mr. Underwood's age, carrying a white cane isn't very cool. It certainly doesn't get you into the "in" crowd.
As I may have stated before, or at least in my profile, I belong to the National Federation of the Blind, and subsequently, to the Nebraska affiliate of the NFB student division. This has exposed me, obviously, to young people (I'm a sort of young 41) who see carrying a cane as both necessary and important. To them traveling safely, confidently, and independently is more important than finding the "in" crowd. Not that they don't have a desire to be a part of that crowd, but they won't compromise using their white cane to get there. To them, their white cane is literally a part of them. To them, the white cane is an indespensible tool of independence.
I am not knocking echo location. It is a valuable tool for any blind person who wants to move about a city independently. That said, however, I do not think that echo location ought to be the sole means by which someone gets around. In conjunction with a white cane and other skills, a person can move fluidly around any city or town they wish...assuming they have proper training in the use of a white cane. Without a cane, there are things a person may miss such as stairwells, manholes, and other potential hazards that could cause injuries of varying severity. Personally? I'd rather have a cane in hand and find these things than rely solely on sound cues and miss something that could be, literally, right under my nose.
I hope that, some day, Mr. Underwood discovers a desire to use a cane as well as echo location. Until then, in all bluntness, I fear for his safety.
